Wildlife Disease News Digest

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Plan to help keep bats from dying out
Citizen of Laconia - www.citizen.com
18 Oct 2009
RM Cook

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials are working on a plan to help states deal with a disease that has killed millions of bats, though conservationists say the agency also needs to push for $10 million in funding as part of its efforts.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity in Richmond, Vt., the disease, white nose syndrome, has wiped out an estimated 1.5 million bats and killed off the entire bat population in some locations.

. . . The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's draft plan can be viewed at www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html.

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The Spread of New Diseases: The Climate Connection
Yale Environment 360 - www.e360.yale.edu
15 Oct 2009
S Shah

As humans increasingly encroach on forested lands and as temperatures rise, the transmission of disease from animals and insects to people is growing.

Now a new field, known as “conservation medicine,” is exploring how ecosystem disturbance and changing interactions between wildlife and humans can lead to the spread of new pathogens.

Look up into the tree canopy of the urban tropics in South Asia, Australia, or equatorial Africa and as often as not you will find masses of Pteropos fruit bats, hanging from the branches like so many furry stalactites.

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First evidence that bird flu is spread sexually
NewScientist - www.newscientist.com
15 Oct 2009
N Schultz

Bird flu may be a sexually transmitted infection – at least in ducks. That's the suggestion of an analysis of flu prevalence and mating behaviour that also proposes an easy way to spot duck populations most at risk of harbouring avian flu.

Surprisingly, the more rampant the sex a particular duck species indulges in, the lower the chance of spreading the virus. It's all to do with penis size and the complexity of the females' vagina.

Lethal strains of avian flu virus can evolve from harmless versions and then jump to other species, so it is important to also monitor less dangerous strains in wild birds.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

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Researchers developing advances in testing, vaccine
Billing Gazette - billingsgazette.com (Source: Casper Star-Tribune)
16 Oct 2009
J Pelzer
Photo credit: University of Wyoming News Service

. . . Andrews, an assistant professor of microbiology at UW, leads a team that has isolated three proteins that are produced by brucellosis bacteria. That's significant, because researchers potentially may use the proteins to trigger the immune systems of brucellosis-prone animals, Andrews said.

. . . If an effective brucellosis vaccine for elk could be developed to complement the existing cattle-only vaccine, that would go a long way in curbing the spread of the bacteria, Andrews said.

"If both populations are immunized, then that would certainly put a lot of folks at ease," he said.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Type E botulism found in shorebirds in Door County
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - www.jsonline.com
19 Oct 2009
L Bergquist
Area: Green Bay, Door County, Wisconsin, USA - Map It

The Department of Natural Resources has found cases of botulism in shore birds on the Green Bay side of Door County this month.

Tests at the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison show evidence of Type E botulism toxicity in ring-billed gulls.

The cause of the outbreak is not completely known, but Julie Langenberg, wildlife veterinarian with the DNR, said that a leading explanation is the growing presence of invasive species in Lake Michigan.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: Michael Nolan/SplashdownDirect/Rex Features